New economic research, data, events and analysis from a London-based economist

Tuesday, October 09, 2007

What was special about Europe?

Gregory Clark's new book A Farewell to Alms is not the only recent take on the emergence of the industrial revolution. Dartmouth's Meir Kohn has a forthcoming work too. Titled The Origins of Western Economic Success: Commerce, Finance and Government in Pre-Industrial Europe, the book manuscript is available online. As Kohn explains in Chapter 1, his work has a Smithian focus on commerce and markets, seeing the creation and expansion of markets in pre-industrial Europe as the key to economic growth:

The can-opener in the Ricardian theory of economic growth is the market. The market is simply taken for granted: it plays no explicit role in the Ricardian theory. But in the real
world, markets cannot be taken for granted. Contrary to the Ricardian view, it is not
technological progress but rather the creation and expansion of markets that drives
economic growth. Technological progress is a consequence, not a cause. It is a lack of
well-functioning markets—not a lack of resources or of technology—that explains the
stagnation of the less-developed world and the problems of the transition economies.

The
economic success of the West is explained, not by its cultural superiority or by the
wisdom of its governments, but by its greater success in developing markets. Of course,
the obvious question is, Why do markets develop more successfully in one place rather
than in another? Answering that question is a primary goal of this book.

This is a detailed and fascinating work, written in a clear prose. I look forward to its publication and the ensuing debate.

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